The Bad Guy

Douglas stands close to the edge of the pier. "I'm the bad guy?" he asks. Prendergast nods his head as he continues to point his gun at him. Douglas is at a loss for words.

This scene in the film, Falling Down, examines the dynamics of race relations and conflict in Los Angeles. The main character, a white middle-aged man that worked for the arms industry, feels that he is a victim of an unjust system. Yet, throughout the film, he fails to recognize that he is surrounded by individuals of varying races that have been implicated in an unjust system for decades. It is not until the end that he becomes aware, that he, the white man, has been the cause of all the chaos, injustice, and uncertainty that different racial groups experience. This plays into the larger concept of white influence on other communities and their inability to recognize the damage that is being caused by them. White people are so caught up in their own world and busy playing the victim and living the good life that they fail to recognize that they prevent other groups from attaining the same quality of life as them. It comes at the expense of minority groups.

With this in mind, the experiences that people in the black, Korean, and Latino community could easily be seen throughout Falling Down and leading up to that point. These communities are aware that injustice and lack of opportunity are a way of life, but it was never really brought to attention by mass media or the general white public. It is only when it is realized and exposed does it explode into something bigger as years of pent up frustration come out. Falling Down is a reflection of the many racial and judicial issues that occur within society due to years of support for white supremacy that eventually come falling down when it comes to light that the white community is the one to blame for injustice and nothing is done to address it.

-Mai Lani